A friend of mine owns a Triumph dealership. Last week he took delivery of the first electric bikes here in Eugene. Brand name Zero. Took one for a ride today...very impressive....but also weird. 0-60 in 3 seconds, and totally linear. The only noise is a faint whine, kind of like a turbocharger. Of course, no shifting, and belt drive. Supposed 175 mile range, and the batteries have a life span of 300,000 miles. It is so odd to sit at a light, and hear.....nothing! Yet when the light turns green, say bye bye! If anyone has an opportunity to ride one, it will put a smile on your face.

I test rode one at a local dealer event last summer. Expected anemia, was I surprised. I think it would beat my 750 off the line. You can even change power settings and monitor it from your phone so if you loan it out you can make it slower. Impressed by all but the price.

Of the 3 models they have out....dirt, dual purpose, and street, prices vary from 12- 18k. I know....ouch!

About the same range as the big irons we all ride now. AND, they are advancing technically far faster (and with measurable improvements in performance and range) than gas burners. Formerly on the fringe, they are front and center and very intriguing. I would love to ride one.

Of the 3 models they have out....dirt, dual purpose, and street, prices vary from 12- 18k. I know....ouch!

About the same range as the big irons we all ride now. AND, they are advancing technically far faster (and with measurable improvements in performance and range) than gas burners. Formerly on the fringe, they are front and center and very intriguing. I would love to ride one.

Dan

I don't know if I would say front and center but they are definitely in the picture. I would like to ride one too.

I would love to have one and commute on it, but it boils down to money. For less than $3K I can pick up any number of decent bikes that, with a little tlc, will perform wonderfully as commuters, leaving me with a lot of money for fuel.

I would love to have one and commute on it, but it boils down to money. For less than $3K I can pick up any number of decent bikes that, with a little tlc, will perform wonderfully as commuters, leaving me with a lot of money for fuel.

Test rode one two summers ago. Real fun, really no noise. Kind of like a golf cart on two wheels, that goes better than any golf cart I ever drove! But the price is limiting factor. Glad to see they are improving range and battery life. If the stable ever grows from one to four bikes, there might be electric in the mix. Everyone should try one though!

I think they need to get 100+ real world range at below $10k before they really take off. Oh, and be able to charge in say 4 hours or less. You can get the range and the charge time but it all adds up to $15k plus right now.

I think they need to get 100+ real world range at below $10k before they really take off. Oh, and be able to charge in say 4 hours or less. You can get the range and the charge time but it all adds up to $15k plus right now.

+1

Yeah, still in its infancy. The technology will be there soon and they'll go mucho further for mucho cheaper, plus mucho FASTER

I am a huge fan of internal combustion. It's in our soul, if you will. It's all we know. But keep in mind in 1900 there were no gas stations. There was no pavement. There are early motion pictures of model T's bouncing and grinding along muddy, rutted one lane "roads". Very slowly. The first coast to coast trips took many months. This will be a long paradigm shift or sea change. The gasoline supply is finite, electricity is not. We won't live long enough to see it complete, but range and infrastructure will grow and improve to be able to drive an electric vehicle anywhere and as far as you want. The same way gas stations and pavement eventually expanded to....everywhere. It will be done with a level of technology that does not exist yet, but many extremely smart dudes and dudettes are working hard on it. Not to worry, in the meantime enjoy that sound out your tailpipe.

Logged

'08 C14There is no such thing as too much ammo, unless you are on fire or trying to swim.

I am a huge fan of internal combustion. It's in our soul, if you will. It's all we know. But keep in mind in 1900 there were no gas stations. There was no pavement. There are early motion pictures of model T's bouncing and grinding along muddy, rutted one lane "roads". Very slowly. The first coast to coast trips took many months. This will be a long paradigm shift or sea change. The gasoline supply is finite, electricity is not. We won't live long enough to see it complete, but range and infrastructure will grow and improve to be able to drive an electric vehicle anywhere and as far as you want. The same way gas stations and pavement eventually expanded to....everywhere. It will be done with a level of technology that does not exist yet, but many extremely smart dudes and dudettes are working hard on it. Not to worry, in the meantime enjoy that sound out your tailpipe.

The toughy is that electrical generation is mostly by fossil fueled power plants. Coupled with the increase in electrical vehicles there will have to be a change in the manner in which we generate electricity. Nuclear power plants need to be taken seriously again (like Europe does) as well as hydro-electric and appropriately applied solar.

All this of course will result in more gasoline for our current motorcycles (and other vehicles of course), including my FJR. Yowza!

I am a huge fan of internal combustion. It's in our soul, if you will. It's all we know. But keep in mind in 1900 there were no gas stations. There was no pavement. There are early motion pictures of model T's bouncing and grinding along muddy, rutted one lane "roads". Very slowly. The first coast to coast trips took many months. This will be a long paradigm shift or sea change. The gasoline supply is finite, electricity is not. We won't live long enough to see it complete, but range and infrastructure will grow and improve to be able to drive an electric vehicle anywhere and as far as you want. The same way gas stations and pavement eventually expanded to....everywhere. It will be done with a level of technology that does not exist yet, but many extremely smart dudes and dudettes are working hard on it. Not to worry, in the meantime enjoy that sound out your tailpipe.

The toughy is that electrical generation is mostly by fossil fueled power plants. Coupled with the increase in electrical vehicles there will have to be a change in the manner in which we generate electricity. Nuclear power plants need to be taken seriously again (like Europe does) as well as hydro-electric and appropriately applied solar.

All this of course will result in more gasoline for our current motorcycles (and other vehicles of course), including my FJR. Yowza!

Dan

Thats decreasing fast too as technology increases. New ways of generating are being developed. Tesla, Google, and Apple are driving a lot of the new technologies.